Portable baby toilet training chair



Feb. 17, 1970 M. HERSKOVICH PORTABLE BABY TOILET TRAINING CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 4, 1967 INVENTOR MILAN HERSKOVICH l/l/l/l/l/l/l/ I ATTORNEY.

Feb. 17, 1970 M. HERSKOVICH PORTABLE BABY TOILET TRAINING CHAIR v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 4, 1967 FIG. 6.

INVENTOR MILAN HERSKOVICH BY ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,495,277 PORTABLE BABY TOILET TRAIYING CHAIR Milan Herskovich, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Herko, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 628,333 Int. Cl. A47k 11/02, 13/06, 13/26 US. Cl. 4134 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A chair which comprises a frame and a seat of plastic material including connecting means for resiliently and releasibly engaging the plastic seat to the frame. The connecting means are included in the seat and are formed of plastic material.

The present invention relates to baby chairs, in general, and to baby chairs at least partly of a material which can be easily cleaned, in particular.

Previous baby chairs have used metal hinge members and have not had a readily removable seat and tray which may be detachably secured to the chair when desired for use, and readily removed for complete cleaning and storage when desired.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a baby chair with means for detachably securing a tray and seat portions which may, respectively, be releasably mounted and removed for cleaning or any other suitable purposes.

It is another object of the present invention toprovide a baby chair with detachable seat and tray, respectively, which are securely and releasably mounted to a frame of the chair in a novel and advantageous manner.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a chair having a detachable tray and seat, respectively, in accordance with the above-mentioned objectives, wherein the tray and seat are not made of metal parts, but entirely made of plastic for ready cleaning and wherein connecting means for releasably securing the seat and tray to the frame also are made of resilient plastic, and are readily cleaned, do not wear with use, and which provide excellent and secure, releasable attachment of the tray and seat to the frame.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a chair in accordance with the above-mentioned objective, wherein the connecting means comprises a substantially hollow cylindrical sleeve having resilient walls and an opening therein. A peg means is provided secured to the frame and the inner diameter of the resilient walls and the opening are smaller than that of the peg means for receiving the peg means therein in releasable snapping engagement.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a chair with detachable seat portion in accordance with the above-mentioned objectives, further comprising plastic support strips releasably attached to the bottom of the seat for supporting a bowl. The strips are releasably connected to the bottom of the seat in accordance with the present invention by resilient strip connecting means secured in part to each end of the support strips and secured in part to the bottom of the plastic seat. The strip connecting means is made entirely of plastic providing secured attachment and ready detachment of the support strips for cleaning.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a chair in accordance with the above-mentioned objectives further comprising a plastic tray, and tray connecting means and attached to the tray and removable in part therefrom. The tray connecting means releasably ice engages the plastic tray to the frame and is fully washable along with the partly detachable tray connecting means.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective front view of a baby chair in open position, with tray and seat attached thereto designed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the seat;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the tray;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the'frame of the baby chair of FIG. 1 in collapsed position;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the seat with support strips attached thereto;

FIG. 6 is a section along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section along the lines 77 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of the frame of the baby chair with seat and tray attached thereto;

FIG. 9 is a section along the lines 99 of FIG. 8, and

FIG. 10 is a section along the lines 10 10 of FIG. 9.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 14, a baby chair designed in accordance with the present invention is disclosed, comprising a collapsible frame 1, preferably made of lacquered beech Wood or the like, to which may be releasably attached thereto a tray 2 and a seat 3, the tray and the seat preferably made of plastic, such as washable nontoxic Moplen, or the like.

The frame 1 comprises four supporting legs to which a lower front board 5 is rigidly mounted in slots 6 between front supporting legs 4a and 4b, and to which an upper back rest board 7 is rigidly mounted in slots 8 between rear supporting legs 40 and 4d.

An upper and lower transverse side bar 9 and 19, respectively, are pivotally connected by screws or other pivot means 9a and 10a, respectively, at their ends to and between each of the front and rear supporting legs ib-4d, and 4a-4c, respectively, at the outer sides thereof, forming collapsible parallelograms with the supporting legs and permitting the frame 1 to collapse into the position as shown in FIG. 4. Conventional metal locking braces 11 are pivotally connected diagonally to each of the rear supporting legs and the corresponding lower side bars 4d10, and 40-10, respectively, and are conventionally joined pivotally to each other for securing the chair in open position (FIG. 1) and for permitting expeditious closing of the chair when desired to the closed position (FIG. 4).

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly, to FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9, the seat 3 is formed with a rear hollow portion 12 having an inverted U- shaped cross-section (FIG. 9) and having vertically elongated slots 13 (FIG. 2) along sides 12:: of the rear hol- 10w portion 12. As described relative the connected position of the seat 3 to the frame 1, the upper end of the rear hollow portion 12 adjacent the slots 13 (FIG. 6, being shown inverted from the connected position) contains substantially cylindrical sleeve formations 14 tangentially secured horizontally at the upper portion of outer peripheral walls 14a thereof to the interior wall 12b forming the hollow portion 12 at the apex thereof. The outer peripheral walls 14a of the cylindrical sleeve formations 14 are somewhat smaller in radius than that of the interior wall 12b of the rear hollow portion 12, and accordingly the cylindrical sleeve formations 14 are disposed in spaced relationship at the sides thereof from the interior wall 12b forming the rear hollow portion 12, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9.

The cylindrical sleeve formations 14 each have an open end 15 terminating at the upper end of the slots 13. An-

other opening or slot 16 is formed along the length of and in the bottom of the cylindrical sleeve formations 14, the slot 16 having a width slightly less than half the diameter of the cylindrical sleeve, thereby permitting wooden pegs 17 horizontally aligned and secured to the inwardly facing sides of the rear supporting legs 40 and 4d, respectively, to be vertically inserted into the interior of the cylindrical sleeve formations 14 through the openings 16-. In this manner the rear of the seat 3 may be snappingly and detachably secured to the frame 1 of the chair via the pegs 17.

The inner diameter of the cylindrical sleeve formations 14 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the wooden pegs 17; the cylindrical sleeve formations 14 are preferably made of plastic and are resilient and spaced from the interior wall 12b forming the hollow portion 12; and the openings 16 are slightly smaller than the diameter of the pegs 17. Accordingly the sleeve formations 14, when pressed downwardly onto the wooden pegs 17, resiliently expand along with the openings 16 to engage the wooden pegs 17 therein securely but in releasable fashion. The cylindrical sleeve formations 14 are also formed with a circular end wall 18 at the interior ends and spaced from the open end a distance substantially equal to the length of the wooden peg 17, to provide resilient strength to the sleeve formations 14 for engaging the wooden pegs 17.

The top side of the front of the seat 3 is curved smoothly downwardly and extends somewhat over the upper top edge 5a of the lower front board 5. The bottom of the front of the seat 3 is provided with abutments 19 which rest on the upper top edge 5a of the lower front board 5, maintaining the seat 3 in horizontal position.

The rear snap-in connection described permits pivotable movement of the seat 3 for convenience when desired, the seat merely resting by the abutments 19 on the front board 5. The weight of the child sufficiently maintains the seat 3 against the upper top edge 5a of the front board 5, while the rear of the seat 3 is pivotally and securely connected, preventing backward movement or forward sliding of the seat.

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 2, 5, 7 and 9, the seat 3 is formed with an enlarged central opening 20. Under the seat 3 adjacent each lateral side of the opening 20 are two hol- 4 low, substantially cylindrical projections 21 depending from the bottom of the seat 3, which are preferably made of plastic or the like.

Support strip 22, having mating male projections 23 (FIG. 7) extending therefrom adjacent each end, are adapted to be releasably engaged in the hollow cylindrical projections 21, thereby supporting the support strips 22 in spaced relationship from the bottom of the seat 3 (FIG. 9) and laterally alongside the opening 20 of the seat 3 (FIG. 5). In the engaged position of the support strips 22 (FIG. 7), being shown in inverted position (from the engaged position) arcuately shaped, inwardly facing contours 24 (FIG. 5) of the support strips 22 receive and hold a removable bowl 25, indicated in dashed lines, by flanged bowl edges 26. The two forwardmost hollow cylindrical projections 21 of the seat 3 are spaced slightly closer together than the rear projections (FIG. 5) permitting the bowl 25 to be readily slid onto and off the support strips 22 from the rear.

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 7, the male projections 23 define an outer wall 23a and an extreme end 27. The outer diameter of the extreme ends 27 of the male projections 23 of the support strip 22 are slightly wider than that of the remainder of the male projections 23. Adjacent to remote or lower ends 28 of each hollow cylindrical projection 21, inner wall 21a of the hollow cylindrical projection 21 has a narrowed portion 28a having a slightly smaller diameter than that of the outer diameter of the extreme ends 27 of the male projections 23 and also smaller than the inner diameter of the remanider of the hollow cylindrical projection 21. When the male projections 23 are pressed into the hollow cylindrical projections 21, the narrowed portions 28a of the hollow cylindrical projections 21 resiliently expand to receive the enlarged ends 27 of the male projections 23 therein. As each entire male projection 23 is inserted within the hollow cylindrical projection 21, the inner wall 21a of the hollow cylindrical projection snugly and resiliently contracts to accommodate and securely hold in releasable engagement therein the male projection 23. The support strips 22, and the connecting projections 21 and 23, respectively, are made of plastic, and may be readily washed when removed.

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1, 3 and 8-10, the bottom of tray 2 is illustrated having two forward fiat abutment extensions 29 which are complementary to, and which rest against and in front of, the upper ends of the front supporting legs 4a and 4b, respectively, when the tray 2 is positioned so as to rest on the upper side bars 9, thereby preventing rearward movement of the tray. The underside of the tray 2 is formed with parallel support abutments 39 so that the tray 2 is maintained horizontally on the side bars 9.

Outer side edges 30 of the front abutment extensions 29 rest snugly against inner side faces 31 of the upper side bars 9, the upper side bars 9 extending slightly forward of the front supporting legs 4a and 411, respectively.

Swingable latches 32 are horizontally pivotally connected to the bottom of the tray 2 by hollow cylindrical projections 33, depending downwardly from the bottom of the tray 2 adjacent outside faces 34 of the upper side bars 9. The hollow cylindrical projections 33 terminate substantially adjacent bottom faces 35 of the upper bars '9. The hollow cylindrical projections 33 are preferably made of plastic or the like and are similar in construction to the projections 21, described hereinbefore for holding the support strips 22.

The swingable latches 32 are also formed preferably of plastic having male projections 36 {similar to male projections 23) at one end thereof for engagement with the hollow cylindrical projections 33. Once engaged in the hollow cylindrical projections 33, the male projections 36 are pivotal therein providing for horizontal pivotal movement of the latches 32 in the hollow cylindrical projections 33 relative to the bottom of the tray 2. Each latch 32 includes an extending horizontal portion 37, which, when the latch 32 is horizontally pivoted from the open position (as illustrated at the right-hand side of FIG. 8) to the closed position (as illustrated at the lefthand side of FIG. 8), the horizontal portion 37 of the latch 32 passes snugly against the bottom face 35 of the upper horizontal side bars 9 for securing the tray 2 to the frame 1 and preventing lifting of the tray 2 off the side bars 9 of the frame 1. The latches 32 are swung all the way to abut against the rear face 38 of the front supporting legs 4a and 4b, respectively, to prevent forward movement of the tray 2, relative to frame 1, thereby completely securing, releasably, the tray 2 in position to the frame 1.

The hollow cylindrical projections 33, which resiliently engage the male projections 36 in accordance with the present invention, provide sufficiently rigid attachment, so that the tray 2 is secured against forward and lifting attempts by the child. Furthermore, all parts of the tray 2 including he connecting means, namely, the abutment extensions 29, the projections 33 and 36, and the latch 32, may easily be removed and cleaned.

It is readily apparent that the chair of the present invention has excellent features providing for entirely plastic casting manufacture of trays and seats including connections which may be removably detached, and readily secured to the frame of the chair and which may be dis connected for washing of all parts.

The connections being plastic are formed in a manner to resiliently expand and to secure the tray and seat, respectively, to the frame with exceptional strength and yet which may be readily detached with ease.

The support strips 22 for holding the bowl are also easily removable, as well as the latches 32 for the tray 2 and may also be cleaned separately without damage.

It is apparent that with the present invention all portions of the chair which are easily soiled are formed of plastic or similar material and are removable for easy cleaning, which heretofore was impossible with metal hinges.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. A portable baby, toilet training chair comprising:

a portable frame,

intermediate engaging means secured to said portable frame,

a seat of plastic material,

connecting means providing resilient and releasable snapping engagement of said seat to said intermediate engaging means and thereby to said frame and adapted to enable easy removal of said seat from said frame for ready cleaning thereof, and

said connecting means included in said seat and formed of plastic material.

2. The chair, as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said connecting means comprises a substantially hollow cylindrical sleeve integral with said seat and having resilient walls and an opening therein,

said intermediate engaging means comprising peg means axially aligned opposite each other and secured to said frame,

the inner diameter of said resilient walls and said opening being smaller than the diameter of said peg means, and

said peg means being received in snapping resilient engagement in said hollow cylindrical sleeve through said opening, thereby releasably engaging said plastic seat to said frame.

3. The chair, as set forth in claim 2, wherein:

said peg means and said hollow cylindrical sleeve are horizontally aligned and oriented,

said opening extending horizontally at the bottom of said hollow cylindrical sleeve, and

one end of said hollow cylindrical sleeve having an end opening.

4. The chair, as set forth in claim 3, wherein:

said connecting means is attached to said plastic seat at the rear of said seat,

said frame including two front supporting legs, and

two rear supporting legs,

said peg means secured to said rear supporting legs,

a lower front board secured to and between said front supporting legs and having an upper edge, and

the front of said seat being supported on said upper edge, said seat being pivotal about said peg means at the rear of said seat.

5. The chair, as set forth in claim 3, wherein:

said seat includes an inverted U-shaped hollow portion extending along the rear of said seat and having sides,

each of said sides of said hollow portion having an elongated slot therein extending from the bottom thereof and terminating adjacent the top of said inverted U-shaped hollow portion,

said elongated slots having a width substantially equal to the diameter of said peg means,

said hollow cylindrical sleeve disposed in said inverted U-shaped hollow portion and tangentially secured at the upper portion thereof to the upper portion of said inverted U-shaped hollow cylindrical sleeve, and

said end opening of said hollow portion coterminus with the uppermost portion of one of said elongated slots.

6. The chair, as set forth in claim 5, wherein:

said hollow cylindrical sleeve has an axial length substantially equal to that of said peg means, and

a circular end wall at the inner end of said hollow cylindrical sleeve.

7. The chair, as set forth in claim 1, further comprissupport strips of plastic material capable of holding a bowl,

said seat having an enlarged central opening therein,

strip connecting means secured in part to each end of said plastic support strips and secured in part to the bottom of said plastic seat for releasably connecting said plastic support strip to the bottom of said plastic seat adjacent said central opening, and

said strip connecting means being resilient and made of plastic.

8. The chair, as set forth in claim 7, wherein:

said strip connecting means comprises,

a hollow cylindrical projection depending from said bottom of said plastic seat and having an open remote end,

said hollow cylindrical projection having inner walls,

a male projection depending from each end of said plastic support strips and having an extreme end, said male projection being substantially cylindrical in shape and having outer walls,

said outer walls of said male projection having a slightly enlarged diameter adjacent said extreme end,

said inner walls of said hollow cylindrical projection having a slightly narrowed diameter adjacent said open remote end and adapted to resiliently receive said male projection therein in releasable snapping engagement.

9. The chair, as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a tray of plastic material including tray connecting means for releasably engaging said plastic tray to said frame, and

said tray connecting means removable in part from said plastic tray and formed of plastic.

10. The chair, as set forth in claim 9, wherein:

said frame includes one pair of upper horizontal side bars and one pair of front supporting legs, one of each of these two pairs each on the same side of the chair being connected together adjacent the respec tive ends thereof,

said front-supporting legs having a front face and a rear face,

said horizontal side bars having a bottom face and an outer side face,

said plastic tray resting on said upper horizontal side bars and extending transversely beyond said horizontal side bars,

said tray connecting means comprises,

two abutment extensions depending from the bottom of said tray adjacent the front thereof, and abutting said front face of said front supporting legs, thereby securing said plastic tray against rearward movement,

two horizontally swingable latches pivotally mounted to and depending from the bottom of said tray at a position transversely outwardly relative to and adjacent to said outer side faces of said horizontal side bars,

said swingable latches having an extending horizontal portion which engages said bottom face of said horizontal side bars when said swingable latches are pivoted inwardly to secure said plastic tray against lifting movement, and

said swingable latches pivotable inwardly so as to abut said rear face of said front supporting legs and to secure said plastic tray against forward movement.

11. The chair, as set forth in claim 10', wherein:

said swingable latches include a male projection extending from an end of said extending horizontal portion,

a hollow cylindrical projection depending from said bottom of said plastic tray at a position transversely outwardly relative to and adjacent to said outer side faces of said horizontal side bars,

said hollow cylindrical projection having an open remote end spaced from said bottom of said plastic tray,

said hollow cylindrical projection having inner walls,

said male projection having an extreme end,

said male projection being substantially cylindrical in shape and having outer walls,

said outer walls of said male projection having a slightly enlarged diameter adjacent said extreme end of said male projection, and

said inner walls of said hollow cylindrical projection having a slightly narrowed diameter adjacent said open remote end and adapted to resiliently receive said male projection therein in releasable pivotal engagament.

12. The chair, as set forth in claim 10, wherein:

said horizontal side bars extend forwardly slightly beyond said front face of said front supporting legs,

said horizontal side bars having an inner side face and being secured outwardly to said front supporting legs at said inner side face of said horizontal side bars, and

said abutment extensions having outer side edges abutting said inner side faces of said horizontal side bars, thereby fixing said plastic tray against transverse movement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,994,557 8/1961 King 4-134 3,010,169 11/1961 Carpinella 24107 3,340,546 9/1967 Moore et al. 4239 178,552 6/1876 Orr 24-107 200,181 2/1878 Dawson 4134 473,704 4/1892 Le Count 4134 601,312 3/1898 Beall 4134 677,799 7/ 1901 Robinson 4-239 1,910,736 5/1933 Arthur 4134 2,053,566 9/1936 Kreil 4239 2,607,926 8/ 1952 De Puy 182-33 2,654,927 10/1953 Tansman 24107 2,682,914 7/1954 Wing 4239 2,687,535 8/ 1954 Almorth 4-239 2,804,121 8/ 1957 Singleton 4134 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner D. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner 

